Fears Prince Andrew could be dragged into Ghislaine Maxwell trial as she faces fresh charges

Prince Andrew risked being dragged into the criminal case against Ghislaine Maxwell after a New York court charged her with two new sex trafficking charges.

The new charges cover a period of time in the early 2000s when the Duke of York was spending time with Ms Maxwell and her then boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein, who was subsequently convicted of paedophile charges.

Sources close to the prince pointed out the case had “nothing to do with the Duke”.

But a source close to Ms Maxwell questioned why fresh charges were suddenly being brought against the British socialite, nine months after she was arrested and at least 18 months since the FBI opened a criminal investigation into her.

The charges relate to a teenage girl who has accused Ms Maxwell, the daughter of the deceased media tycoon Robert Maxwell, of recruiting and grooming her for Epstein from the age of 14 and from 2001 until 2004.

The timing is potentially significant for Prince Andrew because he first met Epstein in about 1999. Another of Epstein’s accusers, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, has claimed Prince Andrew had sex with her on three occasions in 2001 and 2002.

Watch: Prince Andrew's alleged fetishes revealed by Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre

Prince Andrew denies all wrongdoing and strongly refutes all of Ms Giuffre’s claims.

Sources close to Ms Maxwell, 59, are unsure why the new charges have been brought now, just four months before a trial that is due to begin in July.

A source said: “These charges could be to bring in Prince Andrew.”

The source added: “It is awful. It is wrong.”

Her brother Ian Maxwell said on twitter: “The government has admitted how weak its indictment is. So it has added another anonymous accuser from 20 yrs ago. That does not strengthen the government’s case.”

The prospect of the prince being called as a witness or forced to give testimony would supercharge a trial that is already destined to become a huge media circus.

American prosecutors said last year they had wanted to talk to the Duke as a witness and claimed he had not cooperated with their inquires.

That claim is strongly denied by Prince Andrew, who issued a statement through his lawyers last June (prior to Ms Maxwell’s arrest) claiming he had offered his assistance to the Department of Justice on three separate occasions. His lawyers had suggested that prosecutors were “perhaps seeking publicity rather than accepting the assistance proffered”.

On Monday night, US prosecutors widened the case against Ms Maxwell, 59, who is currently in prison in New York awaiting trial over accusations she aided in the abuse of three other women and girls.

Ms Maxwell has denied the charges.

The previous charges centred on claims of abuse dating back to 1994 to 1997, prior to Prince Andrew being introduced to Epstein.

The amended indictment added a fourth victim, alleging that between 2001 and 2004 Ms Maxwell and Mr Epstein recruited an unnamed 14-year-old girl to engage in sex acts with Epstein at his home in Palm Beach, Florida.

Ms Maxwell “enticed and groomed” the girl to engage in sex acts with Epstein, “through a variety of means and methods,” the new charges read.

Ms Maxwell, who is now facing an eight-count indictment, lost her third appeal earlier this month to be free from jail on bail.

Her family and friends have called her treatment "cruel" and she remains in a small cell in a Brooklyn detention centre on constant suicide watch.

Mr Epstein hanged himself in a New York jail while awaiting further sex abuse charges in August 2019.

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